Steam generation
AssigneeClean Thermodynamic Energy Conversion Ltd
InventorsMichael Alan Burns, Paul Andrew Burns
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A steam generator for generating a superheated fluid from a working fluid using a stream of heated gas, the steam generator comprising: a housing, which defines a gas flow path having an inlet at one, upstream end thereof into which a stream of heated gas is delivered and an outlet at the other, downstream end thereof; and a steam generation module which is disposed within the gas flow path of the housing, the steam generation module comprising a heat exchanger which receives a working fluid and is operative to raise the temperature of the working fluid to provide a saturated fluid, and a superheater which receives the saturated fluid from the heat exchanger and is operative to raise the temperature of the saturated fluid and provide a supersaturated fluid.
Claims21
A steam generator for generating a superheated fluid from a working fluid using a stream of heated gas, the steam generator comprising:
- a housing which defines a gas flow path having an inlet at one, upstream end thereof into which a stream of heated gas is delivered and an outlet at another, downstream end thereof;
- and
- a steam generation module which is disposed within the gas flow path of the housing, the steam generation module comprising:
- a heat exchanger which comprises at least one heat exchanger circuit which includes heat exchanger pipework having an input and an output, wherein the input of the heat exchanger pipework receives a working fluid and the heat exchanger is operative to raise the temperature of the working fluid to provide a saturated fluid, and
- a superheater unit which comprises at least one superheater circuit, which includes superheater pipework having an input and an output, wherein the input of the superheater pipework receives the saturated fluid from the heat exchanger and the superheater unit is operative to raise the temperature of the saturated fluid and provide a supersaturated fluid;
- wherein the heat exchanger comprises a modular array of a plurality of interconnected heat exchanger units which are provided in at least one heat exchanger assembly, wherein the modular array comprises a plurality of heat exchanger units disposed along a length of the gas flow path;
- and
- wherein each heat exchanger unit comprises tube elements which extend in spaced relation, a plurality of fins which extend in spaced relation orthogonally to the tube elements and a plurality of pipe end couplings which each fluidly connect open ends of an adjacent pair of the tube elements;
- wherein the pipe end couplings each comprise a main body part to which the open ends of the adjacent pair of the tube elements are fixed, and an enclosure part which is fixed to the main body part and provides a closed fluid connection between the open ends of the adjacent pair of the tube elements;
- wherein the main body part includes an annular seat to which the enclosure part is fixed by an annular weld;
- wherein the main body part and the enclosure part are fabricated by casting, and
- wherein the enclosure part includes an internal cavity that defines an arcuate surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.